Being in Brisbane there was no question of all those crackers (Anaars, spirals,Torches, Rockets and not to mention – the noisy ones – I don’t like them).Thank God it was a saturday !!!! We planned for a get together, everybody cooked traditional dishes – Pooran poli, besan ladoo and Rajma – rice from marathi friend; rawa ladoo,sambhar, lemon rice and vada from andhra friend and Matar-paneer, Nariyal ladoo, vegetable pulao and boondi raita were my creation. I cleaned my house in the morning (just I do daily) with vacuum cleaner (no water washing needed due to carpets), lighten some diyas in my balcony (as the smoke alarm is very active and spills the beans to everyone), did pooja of Lakshmi-Ganeshji and went to my friend’s house.

My friend who invited us for the get together, decorated her house with hand-made (wheat flour) diyas keeping them over banana leaves. We got some small,star-shaped sparkling torches (phooljhadi) for kids. We all were talking about how we celebrate Diwali in India and how this Diwali is being celebrated. We enjoyed dinner and came back home.

Om Shanti Om @ SBS1, Oz

I switched on my t.v. for late night news and to my utter surprize, SBS1 (Australian t.v. channel) was telecasting Om Shanti Om – yes you read right – featuring SRK and Deepika Padukone. The movie was in Hindi with english subtitles. I was filled with nostalgia.. I watched the whole movie and it was without any commercial. I thanked SBS for this great job.

multicultural fest@ romastreet parklands

Next day (Sunday) we went to Roma street parklands for the multicultural festival – organised by Queensland government. There were shops from several countries – Food stalls, mehandi and tattoo stalls, face painting, clothes and the most important – several performances from various countries. And guess what ?? The Bollywood dhamaka presented by Aarti Saha and her team got maximum number of audiences. They did a Jai ho and asked everybody to join and do their bit. It was an awesome experience to see non-indians dancing to the tunes of Bollywood !!

Once again I will say that Australia truly represents a multicultural society and has gained respect in my eyes. Thanks to my dear friends in Brisbane who made my Diwali memorable.

This post is dedicated to the Brisbane city and its people. After spending one month in Brisbane (BNE), I feel that its really a good city to be in. People are warm here and often give a pretty smile. Almost everyday some kind of fund raising event is organized for disables like blinds, old aged people, physically challenged people, disabled youth and poor children. The good thing about these events are that no politicians or self proclaimed leaders are involved; its arranged by common people and there is huge participation and appreciation. Looks like each and every citizen wants to contribute something for the welfare of his country. Right now, people are happily promoting cervical cancer vaccine and preventive measures for swine flu (which is really spreading fast in Oz), without getting paid for it. Another remarkable feature is the multicultural society of Oz – You will find People from all across the globe, living happily together in the same habitat – that’s really wonderful. Common language is of course English. Sports (and beer) seem to be integral part of life in Oz and percentage of obese people is low (as much as I’ve come across). Weekends are celebrated like anything – camping, fishing, barbecues, rafting, water skiing … (and the list goes on and on). Till date I have not come across any rally organized by any political party or something like that. People don’t give much ado to politics and politicians, I predict. And contrary to my belief I find almost all the vegetables(even the bottle-gourd) and fruits at the local market. Few most happening places in the city are – South Bank of BNE river, The city council library, Roma street parklands, City Museum and The Queen Street. The Wednesday market at Brisbane square is a big attraction. Most important, I have not come across any racial discrimination till date.